Russian T‑90M: High-tech facade masks a deadly flaw
The T-90M tanks, praised by Vladimir Putin as the best machines in the world, are essentially "powdered" T-72s, which act as deadly traps for the crew. A hit in just one spot can rapidly transform the tank into a fireball.
In the Donetsk region, the well-known "Madyar's Birds" squad of Ukrainian drone operators released footage showing a Russian T-90M tank, likely struck by an FPV drone controlled via fibre optics, which despite being quite heavily clad in scrap, spectacularly turned into a fireball. The drone may cost more than £800, while the T-90M tank is estimated to cost £3.7 million.
The cumulative jet from the drone ignited the propellant charges not only in the ammunition storage but also in the barrel, causing the last shot of this unit. Interestingly, this time the turret was not blown off, because apparently, the hatch on it was open, allowing the energy from the burning propellant charges to escape. The intense fire and white smoke also indicates their ignition.
T-90M tank - "powdered" T-72B with French optoelectronics
The T-90M tanks, introduced into service in 2021, are an advanced version of the T-90A tanks from the 1990s, evolving from the T-72B family. The T-90 name was simply a Russian marketing ploy to avoid comparisons of the "new design" to the mass-destroyed T-72 family tanks during the First Gulf War.
The T-90M tank was also used as a star of the Russian arms industry in the years leading up to the full-scale war in Ukraine and was frequently praised by Vladimir Putin.
A key aspect of the T-90M tanks was their modern fire control system with French-made thermal imaging. However, these units are becoming increasingly rare as newly produced tanks use alternative solutions of rather inferior parameters.
The second characteristic feature is the two-layer Relikt reactive armour, which offers protection against double-charge warhead missiles and reduces the efficiency of kinetic penetrators fired by other tanks. However, this is an overlay solution on the existing armour, which is still the old T-72B. It is impossible to achieve 100% coverage of the existing tank's armour, leaving gaps in protection exploited by Ukrainian drone operators.
Like the T-72, the T-90M has an autoloader with ammunition stored in the hull, where two crew members are seated directly on top. As a result, any armour penetration can cause a spectacular chain explosion of 22 shells and propellant charges.
